It’s like fantasy motoring. But this week the fantasy became an extra-ordinary reality for me when I was a billionaire Bugatti owner for a day and joined the 220mph club.

My adrenalin was pumping even before I got into the Bugatti. This is a car mere mortals don’t ever get the chance to drive.

I like speed but nothing prepares you for the assault on your senses the Bugatti delivers, starting with the awesome sound of the monster 8litre W16 engine — which feels even more intense because of the open top.

It’s like sitting bang in the middle of a volcano as it erupts around you and the sound builds up to a wall of noise like no other you’ll ever hear coming from a road car. There’s a wonderfully piercing whirring from the turbos that accompanies the thunderous engine note and adds to the sheer drama of the Bugatti.

In full flow it pumps out a hard-to-believe 1,200 horsepower — 199 more than the previous model. It’s like being pulled along by your own herd of wild horses.

The acceleration is breathtaking and when you floor the accelerator your body is flung back into the seat. From 0 to 62mph in 2.6 seconds, a mile disappears in a blur of 25 seconds. It’s scary but exhilarating.

The Vitesse has a split personality. You can drive it as sedately as a vicar on a Sunday meander. It evens cruises at 120mph with the roof down. But blip the accelerator and an avalanche of power launches the Bugatti like an Exocet missile.

On a special race circuit I got close to pushing the Bugatti to its limits and it’s unreal, like being propelled by a super-human force.

It’s difficult to concentrate on the speed as you’re too busy hanging on to the wheel but you do, thanks to the car’s all-wheel-drive and amazing grip.

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Cornering at more than 150mph and flashing past 200mph on the straight shouldn’t feel normal or reassuring — but in the Bugatti Vitesse it does. I’m happy to concede my nerve ran out at 225mph, with my heart pumping, although the car clearly had more in reserve.

The engine gets its extra 199hp from four larger turbochargers with new intercoolers.

To cope with the extra power and stop you from taking off, Bugatti engineers have re-enforced the chassis, and the dampers have been adapted from motor racing.

You also get a giant rear wing that pops up above 150mph, to add even more drama. And the brakes have larger air intakes to help bring the Vitesse to a shuddering halt from warp factor five.

A new roof spoiler has been developed to reduce wind noise and buffeting at high speeds.

Everything about the Vitesse is special, it has a carbon-fibre body and is finished in a unique Blue Carbon, while the lower body and side skirts are finished in a lighter “lake blue”, with blue 20in alloys.

Surprisingly, up close the Bugatti actually seems quite small. It’s 4,462mm long and just 1,190mm high — but a width of 1,998mm makes crowded back streets in Spain a tricky proposition.

On the inside it’s a fabulous cocktail of dark blue carbon-fibre trim, thick aluminium and hand-stitched blue leather sports seats that make long journeys like a flight in your own personal jet.

And in many ways that is the nearest thing I can relate the Vitesse to — it’s a jet with four wheels.

The Vitesse comes with hard-top roof and a strange umbrella-like temporary canvas roof that can be stored away in the front boot but seems unworthy and too fiddly for a car that costs nearly £1.6million.

So is the Grand Sport Vitesse worth that price? For billionaires it’s more like buying a collector’s work of art than just a car — and if you’ve got that kind of money, why not?